The developer, a unit of Dubahi Holding [DUBAHC.UL], had planned the resort with Woods, a former world number one, who was to have designed the golf course.
"Tiger Woods Dubai can confirm it has suspended the project," Dubai Properties said in a statement on Monday.
"This decision was based on current market conditions that do not support high-end luxury real estate. These conditions will continue to be monitored and a decision will be made in the future when to restart the project." The golf resort was slated to have 292 residential plots for palaces, mansions, luxury villas and golf villas, according to the development's website. It also includes an 18 hole golf course.
Update on 2011-01-31 16:01 by Geoff
**Ron Sirak's Golf World Monday item features an aerial photo showing the six complete holes. He reports that after the upcoming Omega Dubai Desert Classic (where Tiger is expected to play), the watering will stop and the site abandoned. Interestingly, the six holes were definitely overseeded this year.
"It means a lot," Watson said of the victory. "You know, everyone is special. We do not know if we are going to have them or not. So I'm probably going to cry all day, just like I did last time."
The long-hitting left-hander was 13 under on the par-5s for the week, birdieing all four on Sunday. He led the field in greens in regulation -- 59 of 72. He also led the field in driving distance, averaging 308 yards.
Watson's wife, Angie, saw a calmness in her husband on Sunday that was different than the way he handled himself at TPC River Highlands in June. At the same time, though, his success in San Diego probably could be directly traced to the trust he gained in his abilities as he beat Scott Verplank and Corey Pavin in that playoff.
"We had a lot on our plate at that point in the season," Angie said as she thought back to the win in Hartford. "He just had that kind of go-for-it feeling today. That it didn't matter to him what happened. He was going to go down fighting. So I think there was a look of extra confidence."
In 2011, such a move has the potential for coming off poorly, although there was most definitely a method to the madness Sunday at Torrey Pines.
A few minutes later -- after Mickelson's approach landed behind the pin, spun back toward the cup but came up short of dropping for the eagle he needed to tie Bubba Watson and send the Farmers Insurance Open to a playoff -- Mackay said to suggest theatrics is to not understand the game.
"Pleeeeassse. ... I take offense at that word," Mickelson's longtime caddie said, smirking. "If you knew how many times in a year inside 100 yards he hits the flag, you'd understand ... that was a no brainer.
"We'd be feeling pretty disgusted right now if it hit the flag and went back in the soup."
“About 10, 12, 14 times a year I end up hitting the pin with a wedge and it ricochets all over the place, and I didn’t want that to happen,” Mickelson said. “I wanted to fly it in, possibly, or I wanted to skip it past and maybe bring it back in.”
Mickelson’s tee shot into the rough on 18 prevented him from going for the green in two. He played well this week despite a wayward driver, but it finally cost him on the final hole. Mickelson ranked 64th (out of the 79 players who made the cut) in driving accuracy, but tied for second in greens in regulation.
You are not going to hear it from him, or anybody else in the Mickelson camp, but there was a lot more going on in terms of drama last year than anybody wants to address publicly.
"He is so resilient," Amy Mickelson said this weekend of her famous husband. "He is such a glass-is-half-full guy. He always has been."
With his wife and mom already battling breast cancer, Lefty pretty much got his glass kicked, though despite repeated arm twisting, he politely declined to discuss it on the record.
His bout with arthritis he experienced last summer, which he predictably shrugged off with nary a complaint, was far more difficult than he let on. Mickelson said he wouldn’t discuss his medical issues because it would sound like he was making excuses for a sub-standard second half.
Should be a dandy at Torrey Pines. Rainy here in LA (got to unpack my umbrella!) but looks like it's okay in San Diego in the early Golf Channel coverage. Anyone up for counting the number of times CBS shows Tiger even though he's not in contention?
John Huggan's chat with the R&A's Peter Dawson about the likelihood of a rules re-write yielded the revelation that the R&A already has a re-write draft on disqualification about ready to go. Though I'm still not sure about the delineation between the Camilo and Padraig incidents.
I've heard from you a few of you about making posts and filling out the security letters and still having posts not appear. My apologies. I've put in the word with the good folks at Squarespace. If the steps were different than mentioned here, please post (if you can!) what went wrong. I'm also looking into upgrading to the next level once and for all to introduce a registration option so that you don't have to fill out security forms and other nonsense.
Even so, he looked more like the Woods who ended last year with a playoff loss at the Chevron World Challenge, not the guy who played so poorly for so much of the year that he didn't win on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career.
It felt like a typical season-opener for Woods, including his position on the leaderboard. In his last four trips to this PGA Tour event, he has trailed by seven, six, five and two shots after the opening round and went on to win them all.
1.) Woods hit just 5 of 14 fairways on Thursday. Obviously, not a good performance off the tee. However, there’s a couple reasons that number is not as bad as it first seems.
The fairways on the North course are extremely narrow. We’re talking U.S. Open width. Also, Woods wasn’t hesitant to use driver on the narrow fairways. He pulled it out on Nos. 15 and 16 consecutive par-4s under 400 yards. He also nearly drove the par-4 second hole. His ball ended up in the rough, but it was in a good position, setting up an easy birdie.
Robert Lusetich was the round's lone dissenter, suggesting that if Tiger's goal "was to bury ghosts and quickly set a fresh tone for the new year," he "failed." Especially from 100 yards and in.
Although his long game has improved greatly under the tutelage of new coach Sean Foley, it’s noticeable just how uncertain and tentative Woods is from inside 100 yards.
Maybe that’s the last piece of the puzzle to fall into place — and maybe it’ll only come once Woods has real confidence in what he’s doing — but the harsh reality is that it’s hard to score on a course like the North without hitting wedges close to the hole.
Even though Woods missed only three greens — and made no bogeys — the truth is that he had very few realistic chances at birdies.
“I kept leaving himself above the hole,” he later bemoaned.
From reader Don, who watched today's opening round of the Farmer's Insurance Open telecast on Sky Sports with John Hopkins sitting in as one of the announcers:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
**Ron Sirak's Golf World Monday item features an aerial photo showing the six complete holes. He reports that after the upcoming Omega Dubai Desert Classic (where Tiger is expected to play), the watering will stop and the site abandoned. Interestingly, the six holes were definitely overseeded this year.
